How is the US going to assure that China, along with the other emerging states, wants to play by American rules once America is no longer in power? We already see signs that China does not accept the current international order. They are not in the position yet to change it but they have made it pretty clear; they’ve telegraphed their intention.

Just like other parts of Eurasia, the South Caucasus is facing the challenge of a renewed East-West geopolitical competition underpinned by three evolving challenges: 1) a growing ideological gap between Russia and the West; 2) the chronic persistence of the protracted conflicts; 3) the dilemma of the post-Soviet states: European vs. Eurasian integration.